Nigeria to prosecute top officers over Boko Haram-related crimes

Nigeria will court-martial 22 army officers over their alleged offences during the war against Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group.

"The officers are being prosecuted for offences they committed during the ongoing war against Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast of the country," a Nigerian military source said on Tuesday.

The arraigned officers include a brigadier general, 14 colonels, a major, a second lieutenant and five captains.

The charges against the officers have not been specified. However, this is the first time that high-ranking Nigerian military members are summoned to court over crimes related to the country’s battle against the Takfiri group.

In December 2014, a Nigerian court martial sentenced 54 soldiers to death for refusing to fight Boko Haram. The convicted soldiers reportedly refused to take part in a military operation in August to free three towns controlled by Takfiri terrorists.

This is while Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan confessed in May 2014 that some Boko Haram terrorist have "infiltrated... the armed forces and police.”

Nigeria’s recent decision to put senior army officers to trial came over two weeks after Boko Haram militants reportedly killed as many as 2,000 people in their attack on the city of Baga in Borno state.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government.

The terrorist group has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various parts of Nigeria which have claimed the lives of thousands of people since 2009.

FNR/MHB/AS

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